The invention relates, in general, to a hand gripable biomechanical tool. In particular, the invention relates to an apparatus mounted to a firearm stock containing a portion of the firearm""s barrel. More particularly the invention relates to a swivelable hand gripable apparatus mounted to a firearm stock containing a portion of the firearm""s barrel. A user of the swivelable apparatus is enabled to pivot the firearm while aiming the firearm.
Firearms are manufactured in various sizes, calibers, and physical configurations. In general, firearms used by sportsmen are pistols, rifles, or shotguns. The sportsman may engage in game hunting or target shooting i.e., stationary or moving targets. Sportsmen, regardless of the type of firearm they use or the sport they are engaged in, have one common thread that runs through the connection between the sportsman and his firearm. The common thread is aiming the firearm before discharging the weapon.
The standard or common practice for aiming a firearm, a rifle for example, is to place the rifle stock butt against either the right or left shoulder and grip a portion of the stock containing the firing mechanism with either the right or left hand. The sportsman""s other hand is positioned palm up along a portion of the stock containing the barrel of the rifle. The rifle is cradled in a position allowing the sportsman to raise the rifle and align the sights of the rifle with the intended target thus aiming the firearm at the target.
The palm of the hand facing upwards and grasping the stock portion containing the barrel causes the muscles in the forearm to tighten thus supporting the wrist and hand. The thumb and forefinger form a U-shaped cradle for the barrel-mounted stock. The remaining fingers of the hand provide no mechanical advantage in supporting the firearm. Various muscle groups of the shoulder, upper arm, forearm, and hand are tightened to support the firearm while the sportsman is aiming the firearm.
The tightening of the aforementioned muscle groups restricts the arcuate movement of the firearm while aiming. The arcuate movement required during aiming of the firearm or tracking a moving target while aiming the firearm is limited to a relatively short arcuate radius extending to either side of the centerline of the barrel of the firearm. If further arcuate movement is desired, the sportsman must traverse his upper torso in concert with his arm movement. The extended arc produced by the upper torso and arm movement only marginally extend the radius of the arc. If further extensions in the radius of the arc are desired the sportsman must physically change or move his stance i.e., his whole body relative to the target. The change of stance while aiming a firearm may be acceptable during target shooting but changing stance while game hunting may cause the game to bolt. The sportsman would be required to re-aim the firearm and possibly change his stance once again.
Attempts in the past to provide mechanical advantage to a firearm to increase the successful aiming of the firearm have been concerned with the vertical or horizontal position of the barrel relative to the target. One attempt is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,826,848 issued to T. E. Davis on Mar. 18, 1958. The Davis patent discloses a hand held elongated apparatus that has one end formed into a C-shape. The C-shaped end fits partially about the barrel of a firearm. A sportsman grasps the elongated portion and aims the firearm. The sportsman may, if desired, increase the elevation of the barrel by partially unscrewing the C-shaped end from the elongated apparatus. The Davis patent discloses an apparatus to increase the user""s ability to obtain a constant firearm barrel elevation but does not teach a method or apparatus to increase the sportsman""s arcuate movement of a firearm while aiming at a moving target.
Another attempt to remedy the problems of aiming a firearm at a moving target are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 879,052 issued to J. Jeranek on Feb. 11, 1908. The Jeranek patent discloses an elongated apparatus that has one end sharpened to assist in penetrating a surface or penetrating the ground to provide a stationary position for the elongated apparatus. The elongated apparatus has a sliding tubular section that may, if desired, be adjustably secured to select a desired elevation of the firearm. The elongated apparatus has a U-shaped member mounted at one end of the tubular section. The U-shaped member is rotatably mounted to the tubular section. The firearm is positioned within the confines of the U-shaped member and aimed by the sportsman. Presumably, if the sportsman desired to track a moving target he would rotate the U-shaped member by moving his body about the elongated apparatus.
It would be desirable to have an apparatus that enables a sportsman to aim a firearm utilizing a maximum arcuate radius to achieve maximum arcuate movement of the barrel while aiming the firearm. The apparatus would be biomechanical thereby enabling the sportsman to grasp the stock mounted barrel with either the right or left hand utilizing all of his fingers of the right or left hand. The palm holding the apparatus would be in a neutral position rather than a supinated position i.e., the palm facing upwards. The neutral position of the palm about the apparatus would provide stabilization from both the pronator teres as well as the supinator for improved elbow stabilization. The brachioradialis is at a mechanical advantage to aid in strength and stabilization of the elbow flexors with the palm in the neutral position. The shoulder is adjusted from the conventional external rotation to an increased internal rotation, allowing both the long and short head of the bicep to aid in shoulder flexion and stabilization. With the improved gripping of the finger flexors about the apparatus there would be an improved ability to stabilize the butt of the firearm into the shoulder of the sportsman. The desirable results of grasping an apparatus in the above discussed manner would enable the sportsman to biomechanically enhance the stability, mobility, comfort, and accuracy while engaged in target shooting or game hunting.
The present invention is a user operable and hand gripable tool or apparatus that incorporates biomechanical features enabling a user to aim a firearm. The present invention may be mounted on any barrel of any type of firearm. If desired, the present invention may be mounted to the firearm stock containing the portion of the firearm""s barrel. The user of the present invention is enabled to aim the firearm utilizing the maximum arcuate radius derived from the pivotal movement of the firearm while aiming or tracking an intended target.
The present invention is a biomechanical apparatus for a firearm wherein the firearm has a user hand-gripable barrel portion. The apparatus may, if desired, comprise a U-shaped member that has an outwardly extending cylindrical protuberance. The outwardly extending cylindrical protuberance is swivelably mounted to the U-shaped member. An elevated contoured member is connected along the curved portion of the U-shaped member. The elevated contoured member is sized to receive a selected portion of the user hand-gripable barrel portion of the firearm. An elongated handle has an aperture disposed in one end. The aperture is sized to receive a portion of the outwardly extending cylindrical protuberance. The elongated handle is detachably secured to the U-shaped member by a setscrew that adjoins the elongated handle and the outwardly extending cylindrical protuberance. The U-shaped member is now free to rotate 360xc2x0 (degrees) about one end of the elongated handle.
The present invention may, if desired, have an elongated connecting strap traversing the barrel or the barrel mount stock portion of the firearm and the U-shaped member. The elongated connecting strap may, if desired, be detachably securable to the barrel and the U-shaped member by a hook and loop fastener. The present invention may further have a pair of pads mounted onto the legs of the U-shaped member thus protecting the barrel or stock mount barrel from damage. The pads may be of any size or material composition and may serve as supporting ballast for varying sizes of barrels or stock mounted barrels.
A user of the present invention, once the apparatus was mounted to a firearm, would grip the elongated handle with either the right or left hand. The user""s other hand would be in proximity to the trigger mechanism. The butt of the firearm would be against the user""s shoulder. The firearm would be raised or positioned in the general direction of a selected target. If the target was moving the user would, if desired, aim the firearm by arcuately traversing the barrel of the firearm using the elongated handle. The stock of the firearm would pivot against the user""s shoulder thereby enabling arcuate movement of the barrel while the elongated handle remained stationary in the user""s hand as the barrel portion connected to the U-shaped member swiveled relative to the handle. The swivel action of the present invention provides maximum arcuate movement of the barrel of the firearm during the aiming process discussed herein.
When taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the appended claims, other features and advantages of the present invention become apparent upon reading the following detailed description of embodiments of the invention.